


The Sound of Silence

by PhoenixAnon



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-17
Updated: 2016-07-17
Packaged: 2018-07-24 15:35:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7513735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhoenixAnon/pseuds/PhoenixAnon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For the first time in his life, Lucio could hear complete silence.</p><p>And he had never been so afraid.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Sound of Silence

For the first time in his life, Lucio could hear complete silence.

And he had never been so afraid.

He lay on the floor, his weapon a short distance away, broken. The battle had been going well, he thought, but he'd been caught on the edge of an explosion, not enough to physically damage him, but enough for the shockwave to fling him thirty feet. 

He attempted to get up, failed, and lay there for a little while, panting, until he felt the warm trickle of liquid down his neck and immediately brought a hand to the side of his head in alarm. Blood. But from where? His head didn't hurt much. Not that there was time to think about that now. A gunman had spotted him and was bearing down on him rapidly, drawing his pistol, ready to finish what the explosion had started. Lucio barely had time to react before there were two massive, steely limbs planted either side of him. He cringed but was unable to bring himself to move, and it wasn't until he saw the pink paintwork that he realised who it was. He could feel the immense rumble of the Mech's twin guns through the ground as it mowed down the gunman, followed by a distant opponent, before D.Va blasted off and proceeded to shoot the rest of their opponents into the ground.

Lucio just lay there. He couldn't move. He didn't want to move. The blood was coming from his ears. He'd realised as soon as D.Va's mech landed that he couldn't hear anything at all. 

His world was silent.

Lucio shut his eyes and tried not to cry. 

He didn't know how long he'd been there but there was a thump and tremors travelled through the ground, signalling the arrival of D.Va's mech once more. Suddenly, there was a hand on his arm, and he looked up to see his friend's worried face. She was saying... something. It looked like a question.. Was he alright? He replied, although he wasn't sure if sound was coming out. "I c-can't... I can't hear....I can't hear anything..." D.Va's expression turned from concern to mild horror when she saw the blood. She put a hand to her mouth, looking down at him, and then took him by his upper arms and helped him to his feet. He could stand, albeit shakily, and with D.Va's help, they made their way slowly but surely back to base.

Mercy wasn't expecting Lucio, of all people. Usually it was Junkrat (half blown-up again) or perhaps a battle-wounded 76. Very occasionally she got Tracer, who sometimes had issues with the technology in her chronal accelerator. But never Lucio. He was careful, and knew to back out if he was losing a fight. The worst he'd ever had was probably a sprained ankle when one of his roller blades gave way mid wall-run, but that was more than a year ago. 

So when he came slowly into the med bay with D.Va at his side, blood running down his neck and staining his clothes, she rushed over immediately, pushing her fringe out of her eyes. "What happened?!" She asked, but it was D.Va who answered.

"Cheonglyeog sonsil.....He was caught in an explosion. His ears... He says he can't hear anything. He can barely walk by himself."

Mercy's pale face contracted into a frown. She told D.Va to help Lucio sit while she went to grab a first aid kit and a cloth. When she came back, Lucio was sitting down on the examination table with his head in his hands. She brushed his shoulder and he jumped, turning to look at her with wide eyes. Carefully, she removed the remnants of his visor and the tattered remains of his headphones, which hung around his neck, broken. Then, she set to work, cleaning blood from the worst areas, being gentle around his ears, asking D.Va for details while she did so. 

Lucio stared straight ahead, trickles of blood making dark streaks through the layer of dust and grime on his face. The thing he'd liked most about Mercy when she was treating someone was her voice. She would speak softly and constantly to them, assuring them everything would be alright, telling them what was wrong when she found it, always so gentle, so kind. And now, he couldn't hear a word of it. There was no comfort to be found here. He flinched a little when she wiped his face with a cold cloth, bringing him suddenly back to his silent reality, away from the whirlwind of thoughts in his head.

D.Va watched as Mercy brought one hand close to the side of her friend's head and then clicked her fingers. Lucio didn't react. She tried the other side. Again, not even a sideways glance. Nothing. 

The nurse finished by tying a length of gauze and bandage over both ears, wrapping it around his skull like a headband. Giving him a reassuring pat on the back, she pulled D.Va aside to talk briefly. "I am afraid that Lucio is deaf. Temporarily, I hope, but we won't know until his eardrums heal. You are his friend, are you not?" D.Va nodded, replying with a short, unintelligible phrase in Korean. Mercy continued. "...look after him? You can write him notes or text him, just anything to distract him from what is probably a very silent and scary world right now. He might not be able to move around easily, either. Hearing affects balance. He needs all the help he can get. Oh, and no music. His ears won't appreciate being bombarded with sound waves, even if he can't hear it, alright?"

D.Va nodded solemnly. "I'll do my best."

"You're a good friend, Hana." 

"Chungbunhaji, hajiman......" 

Angela didn't need to speak Korean to know what D.Va was thinking. She put a hand on the younger girl's shoulder, consoling her. "It was not your fault. There is nothing you could have done. But now, you CAN do something. Be there for him."

"Dangge, Angela." 

Mercy was briefly surprised. She hadn't expected D.Va to respond in Swiss-German, but then again you picked up quite a few snippets of new languages working for Overwatch. She herself had learned a substantial amount of normal German from Reinhardt, and a little Japanese from the Shimada brothers. But no matter. 

She and D.Va returned to Lucio, who looked blank and distraught. “Take care.” D.Va nodded, then pulled out her phone and typed a brief message in the Notes app. 

“We’re going back to your room. Can you lead??”

She showed it to Lucio. He seemed to take a long while to process it, but finally, he nodded once, and attempted to stand. He almost fell, but with D.Va’s help , they left the med bay and made their way to Lucio’s room.

There was a long silence once he was sat at his desk and D.Va was perched on the bed, typing out a longer paragraph of text on her phone. When she finished, she walked over and tapped his shoulder, handing him the device.

“Lucio….. I know this must be hard for you. But you need to know. Mercy says you’ve gone deaf. Hopefully only temporarily, but she says we need to wait for your eardrums to heal first. I am so, so sorry. I’ll text you as much as I can, message me if you ever want to chat or just to clear your mind or whatever. She… also said no music. The sound waves would damage your ears apparently. Sorry. Hope you’re feeling a little more balanced in the morning.  
\- Hana xxx”

Lucio’s eyes widened a little, but he couldn’t help a small smile at the fact she still signed off the message despite being in the room with him. After a small pause, he made a new paragraph and typed back.

“..Thanks, D. You’re awesome. If it’s alright, I want to be alone right now. Text you in the morning, okay??  
Thanks. – Lucio”

D.Va smiled at that and nodded, drawing him into a hug. Although he couldn’t hear it, she murmured softly. “Everything will turn out alright. I promise.” And with that, she picked up her phone and left.

Lucio was left alone with his thoughts and pure, deafening silence once more. Standing carefully, he shuffled over to his bed and lay down, staring at the ceiling. 

He cried himself to sleep that night.

**Author's Note:**

> Hiya! One of my non-sinful pieces. Apologies if Lucio's condition is portrayed in any way inaccurately, I have no experience of deafness or writing deafness, so any help is much appreciated! 
> 
> Ta! - Phoenix


End file.
